The 2024 PGA Championship has come to an end and Xander Schauffele is officially a major champion. Schauffele held off the charging Bryson DeChambeau with a birdie on the 18th hole to claim his 8th PGA Tour win and first Major Championship victory at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. Here are some thoughts that I have on the 2024 PGA Championship and Schauffele’s maiden major victory!

THE CHAMPION……XANDER SCHAUFFELE

It pains me to use this man as the example for where I’m going, but Xander Schauffele was entering (or had already even entered) Rickie Fowler from 2014-2018 territory in majors. Fowler famously finished top-5 in every major in 2014 (including the PGA Championship at Valhalla) but never crossed the finish line on top. That led to Fowler constantly being discussed as a man who could be the next to win a major, but he still hasn’t. And the way things are looking for Rickie, he probably never will. Schauffele’s name, much like Rickie’s, over the recent years has been talked about going into the Major weeks and his name has been seen on the leaderboard a lot….but there was never a victory. Schauffele put an end to that this week with exceptional play from the start. I admittedly didn’t think he’d be able to follow up his opening round of 62, but he proved me wrong. I have a feeling that finally getting this one off his back might be huge for him in the coming years.